SINGAPORE — Children in the war-torn Syrian city of Aleppo, living among damaged buildings and debris-filled streets, may not seem to have a chance at a “normal childhood”, but some happiness can still be achieved with an hour at underground playgrounds, hidden in the basement of buildings.

This was the idea that won Mr Tanay Bothara the Asia Young Designer of the Year 2018/2019 Award (Architectural), one of the two top awards for the 11th annual edition of the Asia Young Designer Award. Organised by paint manufacturing firm Nipsea Group, the regional competition serves as a platform for architecture and design students to develop their skills and network with key industry players in the region.

Mr Bothara, 23, is a recent graduate of the Padmabhushan Dr Vasantdada Patil College of Architecture from Vivekanand Institute of Technology in India.

Speaking at the award ceremony in Grand Hyatt hotel on Friday (March 22), Mr Bothara said that his idea to transform existing large basements of buildings in war-torn areas of Syria into playgrounds is part of a sustainable “adapt and use” approach.

This underground space will include long corridors for children to play football, cycle and even climb indoor obstacle courses.

“This (idea) is really about making the best out of any situation, even if it is very harsh,” Mr Bothara said.

Although he has never been to Syria, he was motivated to work on the project after watching a heartrending Facebook video about Syrian children in 2017, as well as other books he read and documentaries he watched following that.

Mr Paul Tange, 61, chairman and senior principal architect of architectural firm Tange Associates Asia, who was a judge for the competition, said: “His mission was giving happiness. He cannot create a new city for them with a Disneyland, but his humanitarian approach was centred on what he can do to make children smile.”

In the interior design category, Mr Dang Huu Trong, 23, a final-year student at the University of Industrial Fine Art in Hanoi, Vietnam, emerged as the winner of the Asia Young Designer of the Year 2018/2019 Award (Interior Design).

As schools in Vietnam can be more than 10km away from the homes of ethnic minority children living in the country’s mountainous regions, Mr Trong wanted to bring the schools to the children with his idea of cultural houses.

These houses would include classrooms, libraries and computer labs to facilitate learning, as well as community areas for ethnic minorities to celebrate their culture and identity.

Mr Trong also envisioned small huts made of bamboo and metal surrounding these houses, where tourists may attend workshops held by the residents and learn more about their culture.

“These cultural houses can be built on uneven rice terrace hills that are common in Asia, and can be changed to fit uneven terrains in other countries,” he said.

Mr Horace Pan, 49, founder of Hong Kong interior design firm Panorama and a judge for the competition, said that Mr Trong’s design stood out because he had a clear and universal vision for his idea — which was seen in how he had planned alternate designs for adapting his cultural houses to other countries.

The winners of the Asia Young Designer Award were chosen from some 20,000 entries from 13 countries. The other award categories were: Best Design Impact, Best Sustainable Design, Nippon Paint Colour Award and the Honorary Mention Award.

There were two shortlisted finalists from Singapore for architecture and interior design.

They might take part in the six-week Design Discovery Programme at the Harvard University Graduate School of Design — where all their expenses will be paid for if they are successful in their application to the programme.

Applicants have to submit an essay, their curriculum vitae and university transcripts. The programme includes intensive studio work, lectures, workshops and field trips that are related to design.

Aside from the competition, the award finalists also attended a three-day summit here where they gained first-hand industry knowledge, personalised coaching, mentoring and skill building through workshops by experienced lecturers.

Mr Wee Siew Kim, group chief executive officer of Nipsea Group, said: “What we really want to do is to nurture socially conscious young talents, expose them to an ecosystem of our very supportive, practising professionals, put together a theme of sustainability and responsibility for the environment, and design with the aim of having an impact on the lives of people.”